The emergence of staphylococci, either coagulase negative (CNS) or coagulase positive (CPS), as important human pathogens has implied that reliable methods for their identification are of large significance in understanding the diseases caused by them. The identification and characterization of staphylococci from biopsies taken from human breast tumors is reported here. Out of 32 tissue biopsies, a total of 12 suspected staphylococci grew on mannitol salt agar (MSA) medium, including 7 fermenters and 5 non-fermenter staphylococci based on traditional laboratory methods. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) successfully identified seven isolates at the genus level as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus spp. by targeting a common region of the mecA gene. Only two of the seven bacteria were S. aureus based on the three-specific primers designed to amplify the housekeeping gene recN, and two of the virulence genes icaD and pvl. Diagnosing the isolates using the Vitek system revealed different findings. Although 6 of 7 isolates belonged to the Staphylococcus genus, including: S. cohnii subsp. cohnii, 2 isolates; S. lentus, 2 isolates; and one isolate for each S. auricularis and S. xylosus, the last bacterium was completely different (Aerococcus viridans). Concerning the two bacteria characterised as S. aureus by PCR, they were identified as S. lentus by Vitek with comparatively low detection probabilities of 93% and 88%. The data of this study indicate that undoubtedly PCR is a reliable and accurate test for identification of mannitol fermenter and salt tolerant bacteria in comparison with other tests that depend mainly on biochemical characteristics.
Objectives: Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized with bone mass loss and microstructure, resulting in fragility fractures. Continued secretion of Osteopontin (OPN), osteonectin (ON), osteocalcin (OCN), Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and Ca+2 lead to bone remodeling disorders, followed by bone loss and osteoporosis (OP). The current study aims to investigate the biochemical proteins OPN, OCN, and ON in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and determine whether we could use them as good indicators for OP diagnostics. Materials and Methods: Case- control study carried out between December 2022 and July 2023. OP disease was confirmed among 108 Iraqi postmenopausal women randomly selected from different Iraqi hospitals, B
... Show MoreBackground: Oocytes are susceptible to alterations in the various fatty acid contents of follicular fluid (FF), which may influence maturation and embryogenesis. Different fatty acids exert various effects on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which needs further studies to uncover the involved mechanisms. Objectives: To assess FF fatty acids in women undergoing ICSI and to correlate them with ICSI parameters, namely the total count of aspirated oocytes, oocyte maturation rate, fertilization rate and percentage of good-quality embryos. Methods: Fifty women undergoing ICSI were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. FF samples were collected during oocyte retrieval and were analyzed for fatty acids using gas chromatography. Fa
... Show MoreBackground: Oocytes are susceptible to alterations in the various fatty acid contents of follicular fluid (FF), which may influence maturation and embryogenesis. Different fatty acids exert various effects on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which needs further studies to uncover the involved mechanisms. Objectives: To assess FF fatty acids in women undergoing ICSI and to correlate them with ICSI parameters, namely the total count of aspirated oocytes, oocyte maturation rate, fertilization rate and percentage of good-quality embryos. Methods: Fifty women undergoing ICSI were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. FF samples were collected during oocyte retrieval and were analyzed for fatty acids using gas chromatography. Fa
... Show MoreThe research aims to study Sabkha mineralogy to determine the mineral types, the nature of the precipitation, and the patterns of salt crystallization. Two Sabkhas in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, were studied. It was found that the Sabkhas were formed in flat ponds from saturated solutions in a semi-arid to arid climate. Halite predominates, followed by anhydrite and gypsum as evaporite minerals. As for the minerals of the Sabkha soil, it consisted of feldspar, calcite, quartz, and dolomite, in addition to the clay minerals represented by kaolinite, illite, and chlorite. Needle forms, hopper shapes, dendritic crystals, and polygon shapes are the main crystallization patterns dominantly found in the Sabkhas. All these types of crysta
... Show MoreThe research aims to examine the evaluation of educational quality management and the ways to improve it in the College of Education for Women at the University of Baghdad from the point of view of the academic staff. The research community consisted of (288) participants comprising all members of the academic staff in the College of Education for Women at the University of Baghdad for the academic year (2019-2020). As for the questionnaire, it was distributed to the academic staff of the scientific departments according to their affiliation for the purpose of identifying the availability of the requirements of the quality of the teaching service provided to them by the educational institution. The researcher adopted a questionnaire deve
... Show MoreA laboratory experiment was carried out at the College of Agriculture University of Baghdad in 2017. The aim was to improve the anatomical and physiological traits of broad bean seedling under salt stress by soaking it in salicylic acid. The concentrations of salicylic acid were 0, 10, and 20 mg L-1 and the electrical conductivity levels were 0, 3, and 6 dS m-1. The complete randomized design was used with four replications. The increasing of salicylic acid concentration up to 10 mg L-1 led to increasing the stem cortex thickness, stem vascular bundles thickness, and root cortex thickness significantly by (34.9,36.7,and 55 μm) respectively, while the treatment of 20 mg L-1 led to decreasing these traits by (28.2, 27.8, and 48.1 μm), compa
... Show MoreThis research presents a response surface methodology (RSM) with I‐optimal method of DESIGN EXPERT (version 13 Stat‐Ease) for optimization and analysis of the adsorption process of the cyanide from aqueous solution by activated carbon (AC) and composite activated carbon (CuO/AC) produced by pyro carbonic acid microwave using potato peel waste as raw material. Pyrophosphate 60% (wt) was used for impregnation with an impregnation ratio 3:1, impregnation time of 4 h at 25°C, radiant power of 700 W, and activation time of 20 min. Batch experiments were conducted to determine the removal efficiency of cyanide from aqueous solution to evaluate the influences of various experimental parameters su
A new series of Sulfamethoxazole derivatives was prepared and examined for antifibrinolytic and antimicrobial activities. Sulfamethoxazole derivatives bear heterocyclic moieties such as 1,3,4-thiadiazine {3}, pyrazolidine-3,5-diol {4} 6-hydroxy-1,3,4-thiadiazinane-2-thione {5} and [(3-methyl-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)diazenyl] {8}. Their structures were elucidated by spectral methods (FT-IR, H1-NMR). Physical properties are also determined for all compound derivatives. Recently prepared compounds were tested for their antimicrobial activity in the laboratory. Each screened compound showed good tendency to moderate antimicrobial activity.
In this research, a mathematical model of tumor treatment by radiotherapy is studied and a new modification for the model is proposed as well as introducing the check for the suggested modification. Also the stability of the modified model is analyzed in the last section.
